Broken Home
by Tatsigi
Summary: Alternate Universe. Set in a world with no magic. I thought parents were suppose to protect you? Going through life, no one should be hurt especially not by their parents. Who will protect you when your parents don't? Rated T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Everyone. This is my first fanfic ever. The idea to write it just hit me at 1am, so I started this story. This is the first chapter, I hope you enjoy it.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

It was a dreary night in Magnolia. Rain had been coming non-stop for days. It was close to midnight as most of the town's residents were happily asleep. However, in a adequately sized house on the outskirts of the town, this was not the case.

"You better have this shit cleaned up by time I wake up!" Slurred the burly man as he stumbled up the stairs. The man received no response from the seventeen year old pink-haired teenager that was sitting against the wall with a gash a few inches below his shoulder. The teenager waited until he didn't hear anymore noises from upstairs, which meant the man must have passed out, and then called his sister.

"Wendy, he's asleep. You can come out now." A small twelve year old girl with long dark-blue hair and brown eyes came out from her bedroom, where her brother always tells her to hide when their father becomes…like that, holding alcohol and gauze.

"Natsu, does it hurt a lot?" Wendy asked while putting alcohol on the gash.

"Ow, that stings, be more gentle, and no, it is just a cut." Natsu said while giving her one of his signature grins to make her feel better. Wendy frowned a little, and then pulled off his shirt so she could put antibacterial ointment on all of his bruises.

"He hit you a lot more this time. You should let me take a few blows every once in a while. Your old bruises haven't even healed yet…" Wendy whispered.

"No, not happening. Never." Natsu responded as he gave her a determined look. "As long as I'm here, I'm not letting him touch you." He thanked Wendy for patching him up and pulled back on his shirt. Natsu looked down at the floor where there were pieces of glass covered in his blood. His father had come home drunk as usual and proceeded to hit him with a beer bottle that he was holding. This happened multiple times a week so Natsu was ready for it. His father will go to the bar to drink and being drunk just releases his violent side. Yes, his father would occasionally punch him or call him a variety of cuss words, but it was nothing compared to when he was drunk. So when his father goes out, Natsu stands in the hallway waiting to be hit, because if he doesn't then his father will just come to his room and give him a worse beating anyway or worse, he will go to Wendy's room and he would not allow their father to touch her. "Wendy, can you get me the broom and some napkins please? I need to pick up the glass and wipe off the blood."

"No, no. I'll clean it up, please Natsu, it's the least I can do…" Wendy said dejectedly.

"But..."

"No buts. Just go to bed. Your body needs rest. Please...for me?" Wendy replied to him, instantly going from soft-spoken to authoritative as she started to clean the mess. Natsu sighed and did what she said since he knew the little girl wasn't going to back down.

Natsu walked down the hall and went into his bedroom. He closed the door and laid down in his bed, and that was when he finally let out a whimper of pain. The pink haired teen would never show the fact that he was in pain to his father or Wendy. He wouldn't give his father the satisfaction, and he wouldn't show Wendy his weakness. He knew that he had to stay strong for her. Soon he would get both of them out of this house, and they would live somewhere peacefully in a place where they didn't have to always be tense and ready to jump in case their father decides to throw something at them. A place where they could be free from his insults and name-calling. A place where they could be free from…the hurt. He allowed thoughts of life without their father to comfort him as he finally fell asleep.

***Meanwhile With Wendy***

Wendy had just finished cleaning up the floor. She made the room look spotless so their father wouldn't get angry when he woke up. When their father woke up, he would be hung over, and that is almost as bad as him being drunk. She checked on Natsu on the way, his door was closed, but wasn't locked. Their father had removed all the locks long ago, when they use to barricade themselves in their room. After checking in on him, she went to her room and laid down in her bed.

A few tears rolled down her cheek. "Why can't we be happy, like those people on TV? Why does father want to hurt them for?" She thought to herself. She felt like a burden. She knew Natsu only stayed because of her. If he didn't use his money from his part time job on buying food and clothes for her then he could have probably gotten his own place. It's just because he can't legally take her away from their father is the only reason he's staying. He's there to protect her and she felt grateful and glad that her brother cared for her so much, but it also broke her heart at the same time. She knew that he's in pain and that he was acting strong for her, but he didn't know that it still hurts her a lot as well. She hated seeing their father hit him and she can barely stand the sight of his blood splattered over the various surfaces that it gets splattered on. She wanted to take some of the hits occasionally, and protect him for once. She got her stuffed animal, a white cat that Natsu had bought for her and that she had named Charla, and hugged it close to her as she fell asleep.

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><p>So how was it? I know it started off slow, but it'll get more exciting. I promise. I had to get the setting and basic info set first. Review please. Tell me how the first chapter was, suggestions, comments, etc.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**So here is the second chapter. First I would like to thank my three reviewers: 12417, ShiningSteller, and Senbei x Cup Ramen. All of your reviews meant a lot to me, especially considering this is my first story. Secondly, I'd like to thank all of the readers that read chapter one, even if you didn't review I appreciate you taking the time to read the story and add it to your story alerts, you people know who you are. Thirdly, I'd like to apologize for taking so long to update, I had written half of this chapter but then I didn't know how far I wanted to go with it before making it into the third chapter and then Finals started last week and last until this week's Friday so I got occupied. My apologies. Umm, I think I had something else to say...but I think I forgot... ya so enjoy Chapter 2!**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

When morning came to Magnolia, the rain had stopped; however outside was still dreary overall. The dark clouds continued to block out the sun. The pavement was covered in mud and the occasional puddle. Around the city many students were grudgingly waking up for the first day of school.

"Wendy. Wendy. Oi, wake up." The pink-haired teen said as he gently shook the girl awake.

"Hmm, Natsu, what time is it?" Wendy replied as she rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. She looked up and saw Natsu. His hair was dripping wet and he was only wearing a towel around his waist, all of the new and faded bruises clearly visible along with the bandages on his arm. _Why is he all showered up this early in the morning for? _She wondered to herself.

"6am, today is the first day of school remember?"

"Oh! Yes, I almost forgot. Is _he_ still awake…?" she asked worriedly.

"No, I think he's out like a light. He is gonna have a hell of a hangover so let's go before he wakes up." Natsu said. It wasn't that he was…afraid of their father per say. He was pretty lean, but their dad was built like a tank. If he tried to fight back then he would only get hurt …more.

"Kay, I'm going shower. " and with that, she went to the bathroom. Natsu went to his room to get dressed. He pulled on jeans and a black hoodie over his red long sleeved shirt, being sure to hide all the contusions. He ran a hand through his hair; he knew he couldn't tame it if he tried. He grabbed his bag and went to the kitchen. When he arrived, he saw Wendy making them sandwiches. Wendy had on jeans as well, but with a green winter coat over her t-shirt so she wouldn't be cold outside.

"Here I made you a sandwich. Full of meat, just how you like it." Wendy handed him the sandwich as she went to put on her shoes.

"Thanks We-" a creak was heard throughout the house and he stopped mid-sentence.

"Why the fuck are you two making so much noise in the god damn morning." They heard their father growl and his steps coming from the stairs. In a flash, Natsu pulled on his shoes, grabbed his book bag and sandwich, and then he and Wendy rushed from the house.

After a short trek, the siblings finally arrived at their schools. Wendy went to the middle school which was located across the street from the high school that Natsu attended.

"Oi Wendy. I'll cya later then. I have work afterschool today, so just hang out in the library or somewhere till I leave." The petite girl responded with a nod and a hug then went off inside the building. He turned around and faced his own school building. _So school, we meet again. _He thought to himself with a sigh before walking through the doors.

His class schedule had been delivered in the mail a few weeks earlier so he headed straight to first period, chemistry. His teacher, Ms. Ultear, was a complete bitch. She already seemed to hate everyone in the class and it was only the first day. Natsu overhead one of his classmates saying that ever since she got rejected by some guy named Zeref, she has hated humans ever since. After 50 minutes of her yelling at the class, the bell finally rang which indicated it was time for second period. Natsu's second period was Spanish and he actually liked the teacher of this class. The teacher was named Ms. Levy and this was her first year being a teacher, so she was a bit nervous at the beginning of the class, though by time the class had hit its halfway mark, her nervousness had disappeared and she had everyone in the class say "me llamo _" (my name is _) and introduce themselves. She seemed nice and she gave everyone chocolate when they were leaving the class. The next classes he went to for the day were History, Math, and Computing where he had the teachers , Mr. Fried, and , respectively. The teachers for those classes seemed alright, except and Mr. Fried had already given homework and just browsed the internet all class, not even bothering to look at them. Natsu was relieved when the lunch bell rang, he had eaten the sandwich Wendy had made for him this morning, but the lunch period was so late in the day and he was starving.

He got some food from the vending machines and sat down at a lunch table by himself. He had been by himself in school for years and he didn't really mind. Yes, it would be nice to have some friends to talk to in lunch and class, but whatever. In the 8th grade, the school had mandatory scoliosis exams. All the guys went and did it in the guy's locker room while the girls did it in the girl's locker room. When he, much to his chagrin, had to lift his shirt so the doctor could feel his spine, most of the guys in the locker room saw his bruises. He wouldn't tell them where they came from, and the other students started speculating and within a week there were rumors going around the school that he was affiliated with a gang and that his gang had got into a fight with another gang. Until that point he had only had one true friend anyway, a girl named Lisanna, and the acquaintances that he had stopped associating with him after the rumors went around. When Lisanna moved to a different state in 9th grade, he had been without friends at school ever since, but once again it didn't really bother him.

Today however, a very strange occurrence happened. Three people Natsu had seen in some of his classes today came and asked if they could sit with him. Two girls and a boy, one girl had blond hair and was wearing a white cropped trench coat with some blue jeans and boots. The other girl had scarlet hair and was wearing basically the same as the other girl except her coat was red. Natsu noticed another similarity; they were both VERY curvy, their breasts looked like they were about to pop out from under their coats. The guy had black hair and was wearing a reddish orange hoody with some jeans. _Oh, these are those three new kids, they probably don't know about the rumor yet. They'll probably find out tomorrow and never talk to me again._ Natsu thought to himself with an internal sigh. He flashed them a grin and told them that they could.

"So what's your name? I'm Lucy. She is Erza and he is Gray." The blond girl said while gesturing to the people next to her.

"Natsu. Did all of you come from the same school? You all seem to be close." He replied.

"Oh yes. We've known each other for years. Back in our old city, we had all had our own apartments, but Erza needed to come here for her own reasons and the group couldn't be broken up so Gray and I came with her." Lucy happily answered.

"Yup, that's pretty much how we got here, Squinty Eyes." Gray said as he took some of Natsu's chips.

"Hey! My chips! Also who are you calling squinty eyes, droopy eyes!" Natsu interjected.

"Droopy eyes? You wanna go?" Gray growled as he stood up and glared at Natsu. Natsu stood up as well and returned the glare.

"Enough!" Erza interrupted their glare off by ramming their heads together. "Gray, don't steal peoples food and Natsu nice to meet you." Natsu, who was still rubbing his sore head, instantly knew that the red-haired woman wasn't one to anger if he wanted to live. He spent the rest of lunch and rest of his classes of the day talking with them and getting into fights with Gray. Natsu bided them farewell as he left the school, because he had to go straight to work. As he walked there, Natsu couldn't help but hope that Lucy, Erza, and even Gray would stick with him. He thought Lucy was very cool, and despite Erza scaring the crap out of him and Gray getting on his nerves, they were cool too. He pushed the thoughts from his mind as he entered his work place.

Natsu worked at a fast food restaurant and while it wasn't the best job in the world it paid enough for him to buy the basics for Wendy and himself and also keep a supply of bandages and antiseptic handy. He changed into his uniform, it was short sleeved, but no one he worked with had ever asked him about it. His co-workers probably had their own problems; they didn't need to be worrying about his. The customers who came in never asked him about it either because honestly, who really pays that much attention to the workers, the customers just want their food. Natsu looked and saw that he was working the register today. He groaned; he hated when he had to work the register. Hungry people can be very irate, hopefully today would be pretty good. _At least I don't have to be at home_ he thought to himself. Natsu spent three hours working the register and then his day was finally over and he could go home. He changed back into his normal clothes and walked out of the restaurant. Wendy was at the door waiting for him and he asked her how her day had gone. Wendy had a great day and was happy to tell him all about it. He smiled as they walked home, he liked seeing her happy.

When they reached the house they slowed down. They didn't see their father's car in the driveway so that was a good sign. Natsu opened the door and they both slipped in. They both looked around the house and they didn't see their father. They both let out a sigh of relief and went to Wendy's room to do their homework. Wendy didn't have much homework so when she finished, she went and made a pack of ramen noodles for each of them and by time she had went to give one of the bowls to Natsu, he was done with his homework. Natsu smiled when he saw the food and thanked the small girl. Wendy told him that she was going to shower and left the room. Natsu packed up all of his paper and books that he had strewn all over Wendy's while he was doing his homework into his book bag and put his book bag into his room. As he laid in his bed, Natsu allowed Lucy to enter his thoughts once again, he didn't why her face kept appearing, he had only met the girl today. He was interrupted from his thoughts when Wendy came in dressed in her blue pajamas covered in white clouds and told him that he could go shower now and that she wants to change the bandage of his arm when he is finished. Natsu went and showered and he allowed himself to take a longer shower than usual, the hot water felt nice. When he was finished, he put on some boxers and pajama pants and didn't bother with the shirt because Wendy would've had to take it off to change the bandages and check to make sure his various other bruises and old cuts were healing nicely anyway. Natsu went to his room and saw Wendy waiting there with the new bandages in hand.

Natsu came in and sat next to her and she started taking the old bandages from off his arm. She could examine the gash better now that it wasn't bleeding and she saw that it was fairly deep, but it would be fine, her brother had received worse injuries before. She cleaned and put some Neosporin on it and then she bandaged it back up. She looked over the rest of him. Natsu's face was fine, their father usually only hit him in the face when he was extremely drunk or extremely pissed. There was a lot of fading and new bruises over his arms and a few on his torso, which was better than usual considering the amount of bruises and cuts that the pink haired young man usually had.

"There, all done." Wendy said as she packed up all of the first aid items back into the kit.

"Thank you Wendy, I don't think he is coming home tonight." Natsu said as he pulled on a shirt. It wasn't that unusual for their father to find some prostitute on the side of the street and rent a hotel so they could have some "fun". It was 11:30 and their father was usually back by then so Natsu assumed that is what must have happened tonight. Wendy's eye lit up.

"Does that mean I can go watch the TV?" The only TV in their house was upstairs and in their father's bedroom. They were both discouraged from going upstairs and completely banned from entering their father's room. They didn't even want to think what would happen if they were caught in there.

"Yes, but be careful, if you hear anything then get to your bedroom as fast as possible. Also don't stay up too late, you have to wake up early for school."

"Okay, also are you going to bed now? " The young girl asked her older brother.

"Ya, so G'nite Wendy."

"Night Natsu." And with that the little girl ran upstairs to watch the TV. Natsu laid in his bed with his face down in the pillow. Today had been a pretty good day, he got to talk to some people, the customers were pretty friendly today, and his father wasn't there tonight. He hoped tomorrow would be just as good and he finally let sleep take him.

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><p><strong>So what do all of you think? Review please, I only want to get better and I can't do that without your help. I introduced new characters, do you think I'm starting to capture everyone's personality or are they too OOC? Ima try to get the next chapter out within a week. So stay tuned :D<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 everyone. Once again I would like to thank everyone for the reviews, you don't even know how happy those made me. I went to school and I was like "Look. Look. People commented on my fanfic and they like it!" So once again, thank you everyone. Also I just realized I never put in a disclaimer so I guess I should add one. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer:I do not own Fairy Tail.

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><p>The pink haired teen woke up with a yawn. He went to the front of his house and looked out the window<em>. No car, I guess he did have a fun night<em>. Natsu thought to himself. He walked pass Wendy's room and saw that the little girl was fast asleep and he decided to let her sleep for a few more minutes. Natsu went to the bathroom to take a shower and went back to his room to get dressed. After he was dressed, he went to wake up Wendy. He went to her room and gently shook the girl awake.

"Wendy, G'mornin." He noticed the bags under the girl's eyes. "How long were you watching tv last night?" The young girl gave him a sheepish smile before replying.

"Umm…until 3 or 4 in the morning." Natsu resisted the urge to face palm and he only ended up shaking his head. "Go shower and get ready for school. Hurry or else we will be late." With a groan, she dragged herself out of the bed and to the bathroom. Natsu went to the kitchen and put three poptarts in the toaster, two for him and one for Wendy. The poptarts came out and after Natsu had finished eating one of his, Wendy came into the kitchen. She was dressed lighter than the day before, not wearing a jacket and only a long sleeve pink shirt because the weather outside had warmed up a bit. Natsu however, chose to wear another hoodie; the hoodie being orange instead of the black one he wore yesterday.

"Here." Natsu said as he handed her the poptart.

"Thanks Natsu. Ready?"

"You sure you gonna be alright?" Natsu asked. He noticed that even after a shower, she still look really sleepy.

"More or less, let's go." Wendy walked out the door with that. Natsu shook his head with a smile and followed.

***Meanwhile***

Gray picked up Erza and Lucy at their houses with his truck and he drove all of them to school. Gray parked his car in the school parking lot and they walked to the cafeteria to hang out until the bell to go to class rang.

"How do you two like your places?" Erza initiated a conversation when they found a table to sit at.

"Ugh, there are some people that live above my apartment and they are so freaking loud in the night time. I mean, I wouldn't even be that mad if it was just on the weekends or something, but no it's every night! I should've rented a small house like you Lucy." Gray groaned.

"Heh, maybe. I love it, it is not so small so that I feel like the walls are closing in on me, but at the same time, it isn't so big so that I feel lonely in there. It's just right. The street that it's on is pretty good too. The school is only like fifteen minutes away so that's also great and my neighbors seem pretty nice." Lucy replied.

"Lucky. How about you Erza, how is your apartment?"

"Pretty good, I had some noisy neighbors at first, but I had a talk with them and now they are quiet." The scarlet haired woman said with a small smile.

"A talk heh" Lucy replied emphasizing the word "talk". _May God have mercy on their souls._ Gray thought to himself. Erza was about to question Lucy's comment when a brown haired female wearing glasses came and tapped on Lucy's shoulder. Lucy turned around to look at the girl. She was somewhat familiar and Lucy was sure that she was in at least one of her classes. _Something to do with plants?_ Lucy thought to herself.

"Why hello there, I'm Evergreen." The female introduced herself. Lucy didn't know why, but she didn't like this girl. Something about her just wasn't right. Despite the bad feeling she had, Lucy introduced herself along with her two companions.

"Hi, I'm Lucy and those two are Erza and Gray."

"Hello, Hello, eh I'm just going to get straight to the point. You three are new here and yesterday all of you sat with that pink haired piece of crap. You all seem like smart people so I'm going to give you some words of advice. Don't sit with him. He is a member of a violent gang and he gets into fights all the time. Trust me; you don't want to associate with someone like him." Evergreen told them. It took a few seconds for everything Evergreen had told Lucy to sink in. _Natsu? In a gang? Never. A fighter? Maybe, considering how he reacted to Gray, but Gray started that by stealing some of his chips. Also who does this chick think she was calling Natsu a "pink haired piece of crap"._ Lucy thought to herself. She may have only met him yesterday, but he seemed like a nice guy and Lucy didn't think he deserved to be insulted like that. Lucy was about to tell Evergreen off when surprisingly, Gray got up and said something.

"Ok, I agree that Natsu may seem like obnoxious punk, but still that's no reason to call that guy a piece of crap. I may have only met the guy once, and while I can't stand him, at the same time I have to admit he seems pretty cool. I don't know what kind of stuff happened between you and him, but if you're going to make fun of him, then at least have the guts to do it to his face. Also, I don't appreciate you telling me who I should and shouldn't sit with. I am fully capable of making choices myself and they are as well," Gray gestured to the two girls sitting by him. "so thanks for advice, but I don't think we will be needing it." Evergreen just shrugged.

"Guess I was wrong about all of you, you three aren't that smart after all. You can't say I didn't try though, and with that Evergreen walked off.

"The audacity of that girl." Erza said with disdain.

"I know right. Oh Gray, did you mean what you said? Lucy asked. Gray has a certain group of people he cares for. It was a bit strange that he would be so accepting of Natsu so quickly.

"Ya, if he was part of a gang, He would have probably shanked me for stealing his food yesterday. Also, you two will NEVER tell him that I did that." Gray responded. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Boys." Erza said with a smirk. Gray just replied with a glare that was renounced as soon as it appeared on his face once he realized who he was glaring at. The bell that indicated it was time to get to class rang so the trio made their way to their individual first periods. The only period that they didn't have the same class for.

***Back with Natsu***

Natsu had just dropped Wendy off at her school and was walking across the street to get to his own school. He heard a bell ringing as he walked in the building, and hoped it wasn't the tardy bell. Natsu remembered how acted on the first day and he didn't want to get yelled at for being late. Some people were still in the halls taking their time to get to class so Natsu assumed that he still had time. He got to 's class and he wasn't late, but his teacher still seemed to be in a bad mood. _Is she like this every day or is she just on her period? _Natsu thought to himself with a frown. He decided the back of the classroom was the safest place from her wrath and sat there. The class went on uneventfully as started teaching about what is chemistry and what is a chemist's purpose. Natsu did realize though that took pleasure in seeing her students squirm. She would purposely call on the students that she knew didn't know the answer to the question she was about ask and even after they gave the wrong answer she would then make a sarcastic remark about if they weren't doing this or were doing that then they would know the answer. Natsu acted like he was writing stuff so that she wouldn't call on him, and surprisingly she didn't. After fifty minutes the bell rang and Natsu started making his way to his second period.

Second period was pretty good. They just reviewed how to introduce themselves and how to ask someone to introduce themselves. They also drew a hand on a piece of paper that told them to keep because they will be using it in class tomorrow. Natsu then had to run to History. The one thing he disliked about his second period was that it was on the other side of the building. It wasn't that much of a problem on the first day because the teachers were expecting students to be late due to them having to find the classroom numbers and right hallway, but the teachers wouldn't be as lenient today. All of the students only had five minutes to get to class and in this five minutes they also had to go to their lockers, use the restroom, and do anything else they needed to do before class started. Natsu needed to stop to his locker while getting to his class at the other side of the school so he was sort of in a rush. After Natsu went to his locker, he speed walked to his class. Natsu was in such a hurry that he didn't even notice the girl in front of him until he knocked her over.

"You okay Lucy? Geez, watch where you going retard." Gray said as he bent down to start retrieving Lucy's books and papers that had been strewn everywhere in the hallway, the second sentence directed toward Natsu.

"Shut up, it was an accident and ya are you ok Lucy?" Natsu responded as he helped the girl up. Lucy was a little dazed and her butt hurt, but she was fine aside from that. She brushed herself off after Natsu helped her up.

"I'm fi- Oh crap! We are going to be late!" She exclaimed as she took her books from Gray and Erza who had picked them up for her. They all had history next and ran to his class. The bell rang like two minutes before they got there so they were late. The door was still opened and they didn't see so they walked in and tried to walk over to some desks like they had been there the whole time. They had no such luck, as soon as they had entered the classroom, the door slammed shut behind them revealing the short elderly teacher.

"Dragneel! Heartphilia! Fullbuster! Scarlet! What is the meaning of this? Why are you four late? The teacher asked with a stern gaze.

"My apologies sir, please punish us to the fullest extent." Erza replied with a bow.

"Us? Speak for yourself Erza. Sir what happened is that Natsu accidently ran into Lucy and her stuff went flying everywhere and we had to help her pick them up. By time we had finished the bell had rang.

"Is that what happened?" asked Natsu and Lucy.

"Yes." They both replied nervously.

"Fine. All of you take your seats." The old man said as he walked to his desk. All four of them let out a sigh of relief as they went to their desks. The rest of the class was just taking notes. The rest of the school day went on uneventfully as well. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza had all the same classes from third period until the end of the day so Natsu, Lucy, and Gray spent most of the day goofing off and talking while Erza kept reprimanding them for ignoring the teachers. As the day went on, everything Evergreen had told Lucy, Gray, and Erza seemed more and more untrue. From what they could tell, Natsu seemed pretty cool. For Natsu, he was glad to be hanging out with some people. It was a nice change from spending the school days alone.

The school day ended and all four of them walked out of the school.

"I'm giving Erza a ride home, do you two want one?" Gray asked Natsu and Lucy.

"No thanks, the weather is fairly nice; I'd enjoy taking a walk." Lucy replied.

"I'm fine too. I gotta go get my sister and I don't live to far away." Natsu said.

"Kay, later." Gray said with a parting wave as he left. Erza also gave a wave as she went to follow Gray.

"What direction are you heading?" Natsu asked Lucy.

"That way." Lucy pointed.

"Really? I live that way too, if you don't mind waiting a few minutes for my sister, I'll walk you home."

"Sure. What does she look like?"

"The short blue haired girl dragging herself across the street like a zombie." Natsu said with a small grin as he pointed toward the road. Lucy giggled.

"She spent the whole night either playing video games, on the computer, or watching TV." Lucy asked him.

"TV. How did you know?

"Everyone has nights like that sometimes." Lucy responded just as Wendy arrived.

"Hey Wendy. This is Lucy a new friend of mine." Natsu told the little girl.

"Hi Lucy nice to meet you, I'm Wendy." Wendy said as she gave Lucy a smile.

"Likewise." Lucy said as she returned the smile. After the introductions, the trio headed down the street. Natsu and Lucy talked about some homework while Wendy lugged behind them. After walking two blocks, Natsu crouched down.

"Get on sleepy-head." Natsu told Wendy. Wendy didn't waste any time and hopped onto her older brother's back. Natsu stood back up and continued walking_. Aww, he's sweet. There's no way that he could be in gang. Right? Wendy looks like she's about to fall asleep, I'll ask him about it when she does._ Lucy thought to herself as she noticed Natsu giving Wendy a piggyback ride. Lucy's intuition was right as Wendy was asleep by time they had walked another block.

"Umm, Natsu don't get offended or anything, but are you in a gang? Some chick named Evergreen told me and the others to stay away from you this morning because of mainly that reason." Lucy asked him. _So they heard the rumor and they still hung out with me._ Natsu thought to himself before replying.

"Does it seem like I'm in a gang?" Natsu asked her with a small smirk.

"No…" She trailed off.

"Well there's your answer." Natsu replied.

"I knew you weren't. Are you mad? You can't blame me for being a little curious?" Lucy said. She did feel a bit guilty for asking him.

"No no, It's fine. Honestly." Natsu's smirk turned into a grin. Lucy still felt a bit guilty, but she was pretty sure that he wasn't mad at her for asking.

"Well my house is down this street. I'll see you tomorrow Natsu." Lucy said as they came to an intersection.

"Later Lucy." Natsu watched for a bit as she walked down the street and then continued down to his house. Natsu arrived at his house and his father's car still wasn't in the driveway. He went inside the house and put Wendy in her bed. He closed the door on his way out and went to his room so that he could do his homework. Natsu was reading some boring chapter in his history book about Mesopotamia and other ancient river civilizations. He remembered reading five pages before all the words starting jumbling together and he fell asleep. Who could blame him? That textbook is pretty boring.

Natsu was awoken by the slamming of his door as it was shut. Standing in front of the door was none other than his father.

"You think I forgot about yesterday morning did you? I know you and you damn sister heard me and you two had the nerve to run outside the house like you didn't. Well actions have consequences and you're going to regret what you did." His father staggered over to him. Natsu pondered the chances that he would make it if he tried to run for the door. If he even attempted to hit his father then all hell would break loose. His father lunged toward him and that's when he made his move. Natsu rolled off the bed and tried to head for the door; his father grabbed his leg and swung him into the wall. His father came over and repeatedly kicked him in the stomach. The last thing Natsu remembered was his father pulling him up by his hair and a fist before everything went black.

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><p>What do you think? Reviews are appreciated. As I was typing this, Chapter 4 was already being formed in my head so I should have that chapter up soon. Two randon tidbits, as I was writing this I kept thinking about Winrey from Full Metal Alchemist for some reason. Doesn't Lucy and Winrey seem pretty similar? Secondly, I feel like I'm not making Erza say enough, she is pretty quiet, but she is fairly quiet in the Anime so maybe its fine?<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

First off, I would like to say I'm very sorry. Haven't updated forever. I had written this chapter on my tablet, but when I went to publish it, the file had committed suicide. I couldn't find it anywhere so I guess it deleted itself. I didn't immediately re-write it, because I was a bit frustrated at having lost it, and then school started up again and I got swamped with science fair and other homework. I was actually suppose to be making my science fair board and essay today cause it is due Tuesday, but I was determined to type up this chapter today, so I'll make my project tomorrow (well today, cause its 1am and technically Monday). After Tuesday, science fair is over and I should have more free time, so I'll hopefully never have to make all of you wait this long for an update again. However, something that may make up for it, is that my chapters keep increasing by about 1000 words each chapter, so this chapter is longer than chapter 1 and 2 combined. Also, I would like to say my usual thanks for the reads and reviews, I'm not going to lie. That is my generic response to your reviews, which is really selfish, because all of you take the time to review, but I don't even take the time to answer, but in the next chapter or 2, I'll get unlazy and start responding to reviews. I think that is all I want to say, so enjoy the read.

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><p>Natsu awoke to pain, everything hurt. He blinked a few times and took in his surroundings. He was on the floor against his closet. He thought back a bit and then the events from before came rushing back to him. No wonder he felt like shit. It was only then Natsu noticed Wendy sitting in front of him with an ice pack. She had that sad look on her face that he hated to see. It wasn't a look of pity or anything like that, but just a sad worried look. Natsu hated that look because no one her age should have to deal with this kind of stuff.<p>

"Oi, what's that look for?" Natsu asked her as she handed the ice pack to him. He put it against the right side of his face, it was swollen and he knew it was going to turn black and blue eventually. Wendy just ignored his question and asked if there was anything else she could do. Natsu didn't have any new cuts or gashes, only new bruises which meant that nothing needed to be bandaged so he just asked for some water and aspirin and sent her to bed after she had brought them for him. She protested a bit, but he reassured her that he'd be fine and she finally went. He checked the clock on it wall and it said 3:06 AM. He went back to his bed and let the darkness take him once again.

In the morning, Wendy woke Natsu up so he could get ready for school. He showered and got dressed with only minor difficulties. Most of his body hurt and he felt a bit dizzy when he was standing. He looked at himself in the mirror and like he expected, the right side of his face was still swollen and had now taken on discolorations. There was also an odd taste in the back of his throat. The source was revealed as he was leaving his room. He coughed and looked at the back of his hand. It was covered in red specks. _Blood? _He thought to himself. He grimaced, that was not a good thing. He heard Wendy running down the hall and wiped his hand on the hand on his shirt because it was black and the blood on his hand wouldn't leave a mark on it. Deciding that he wouldn't tell Wendy about it, when she came down the hall and asked if he was alright because he looked a bit pale, He told her that he was fine and that they should leave now or else they were going to be late.

Natsu and Wendy left house and walked down the street in silence. Despite her brother telling her that he was fine, Wendy knew that he wasn't. She noticed that he looked pale and that he didn't eat anything this morning, not to mention the fact that he was slightly swaying as he walked. Wendy looked down at the sidewalk. She wished he would tell her what was wrong; she had noticed that their father's violence had slowly been increasing throughout the years. Their father was leaving more visible marks on Natsu and his temper was shorter as well. No matter how much Natsu tried to make her believe it, she knew that he wasn't indestructible and she feared for his safety. If their father keeps this up…Natsu may end up dead. She knew that he was staying because of her, and if the choice came to rest in her hands, then she would rather call the police and have them get separated instead of things getting so out of hand that Natsu's life becomes more endangered than it already is now.

As they walked to school, Natsu had other things on his mind. First and foremost, he was trying to ignore the pounding feeling he felt in the back of his head. Secondly, he was also trying to think of an excuse for his face. Lucy, Erza, Gray, and possibly even some of his teachers were going to ask what happened to him so he needed to think of something. He wasn't going to have much time to think of one though, he saw Lucy waiting for him at the intersection of the main road and her street. As he and Wendy got closer to her, he immediately saw her smile melt into a look of concern.

"Natsu, what happened to you?" She asked as she gingerly touched his face. Natsu gave her a sheepish smile and scratched his head.

"Oh, I was riding my bike last night after school and I guess I wasn't paying attention because I rode head first into a lamppost."

"Really?" She looked to Wendy for confirmation.

"Yes, he can be so clumsy sometimes." The younger girl replied.

"Well Natsu, you need to be more careful. You could have ridden into an oncoming car or something." Lucy told him.

"Yah, I will." Natsu replied to her. Lucy, satisfied with the answer, perked back up and started walking towards the school with Natsu and Wendy at her side.

The trio got to the school and Wendy ran off to her school across the street. Natsu and Lucy went inside and met up with Erza and Gray in the hallway. As anticipated, they both asked Natsu about his face.

"Your face?" Inquired Erza.

"Yah what happened? You look crappier than usual." Gray said. Not in the mood to get into an argument with Gray, Natsu ignored the latter statement and answered Erza's question.

"Biking accident, I don't wanna explain it again so can you ask Lucy please?"

"He was riding his bike last night after school and wasn't paying attention and ended up riding head first into a lamppost." The blonde explained. Gray laughed a bit before responding.

"What Natsu? Can't even ride a bike?" Natsu was about to give him a snappy remark, but ended up laughing when Erza hit Gray in the head. The laugh was short however, because it made his stomach hurt even more and the metallic taste more prominent in his mouth. The bell rang and the group separated as they all went to their classes.

For the next nine days, things were pretty quiet. Natsu's face had healed, but he'd been coughing up more and more blood every day and while the bruises on his torso had been fading, his stomach felt worse and worse every day as well. The pounding feeling in the back of his head had disappeared as well, but had been replaced with a lightheaded feeling. Not everything was bad though, Natsu hadn't received any beatings since the last one. Their father had rarely come home for the past few days and when he was home, he seemed to be in a good mood.

Wendy was happy that their father wasn't coming home at night, it meant that she could watch T.V and that Natsu was safe, but it also started to worry her. Their father wasn't coming home so that means Natsu should be fine, but she had noticed that for the past nine days, his condition had only been getting worse. He looked sicker every day and he was also skipping breakfast and only eating a bit of his dinner. She's been asking him what's wrong, but he insists that it's nothing.

At school, Lucy, Erza, and Gray had noticed that something was wrong with Natsu as well. Erza had been the first to notice, her perception being rivaled by none, and she asked Lucy about it. Lucy hadn't noticed at first, but after Erza asked her if she had noticed anything wrong with Natsu, she began noticing that he was acting a bit odd. When Natsu thought that none of them were watching, he looked weary and like he was about to keel over and perked up when he was aware that they were him. His smiles, laughs, and excitement seemed like they were forced. Gray had noticed something was up when Natsu ignored all of his attempts to start a fight with him. Natsu would just ignore all of his insults and when he stole some of Natsu's food, Natsu would give him the rest of it saying "Here, I'm not hungry anyway". They all may have only known the guy for a short period of time, but it felt like they had known him forever, and they were worried about him.

On the tenth day, a Friday, words could hardly describe how bad Natsu was feeling. He was feeling extremely lightheaded and was having cold sweats. He was supposed to be in his first period, but instead he was in the boy's restroom with his head against a stall.

"Don't throw up. Just whatever you do, don't throw up." He told himself. It took a while, but the feeling of wanting to puke passed though aside from that, he still didn't feel much better. When the bell indicating it was time to go to second period rang, he somehow made his way to second period and made it through the class period. He went straight to third period, not even bothering to find Lucy and the others in the halls like he usually did. He went into 's class and immediately dropped his head down on his desk. Lucy, Erza, and Gray came in a few moments later and the bell rang shortly after so class began. Today was a note taking day so was in the front of his class with his back turned as he explained the PowerPoint on the projector. Lucy, who was in the seat next to Natsu, tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, you ok?" She asked. He nodded his head, though since his head was down, it wasn't very reassuring. "Natsu, something has been wrong with you all week, I can tell. Erza and Gray can too. You look sick and you haven't been eating." She told him. _Eh and here I thought I was good at hiding stuff. No one has ever noticed if I was feeling like crap before. Probably because no one has ever cared about my wellbeing enough to bother noticing. _He thought and raised his head to respond.

"Guys," He noticed that Erza and Gray, who were sitting behind them, had been watching the exchange between Lucy and himself. "I'm fine. Just feeling sleepy. I've probably been staying too late. Don't worry." Natsu put his head back down. It was odd having people other than Wendy worrying about him. He was grateful for it, but at the same time he wanted them to stop. He didn't want them to be worried because of problems he was having. They didn't need to be involved.

Lucy didn't believe that he was only sleepy and was ready to bother Natsu for the rest of the day until he told her what was really wrong and was about to tap his shoulder again, but Erza stopped her. Erza wrote on a piece of paper and held it up for her to see so Natsu wouldn't hear. _Just leave him alone for now. He will tell us what is wrong with him when he is ready._ Lucy took the paper from her and wrote a response_. Fine, I'll give him until the end of the day. If he doesn't say what is really wrong with him by the end of the day, then you are going to help me make sure that he doesn't leave the building until he does. _Erza read it and shrugged. _Sure._ She replied. Gray, who had read the conversation between the girls from his seat next to Erza, sighed. Their intention is good, but isn't that a bit much. True to her word, Lucy left Natsu alone and went back to taking notes and paying attention to .

As soon as class ended, Natsu rushed out of the class.

"I'll see you in a few minutes when class starts." He called out right before he left.

"Natsu?" Lucy managed to get out, a bit startled by his exit.

Natsu's third period was at the further end of the school building and located right next to one of the doors that led outside. He ran out and puked. He looked down at it and saw that it was mainly blood. Taking a few steps away from it, he sat against the wall of the school and closed his eyes. His breathing was rough and his body was covered in sweat. Losing consciousness, he slumped over sideways and lay very still.

It took her a few sections to grasp the situation, but when she finally did there was nothing she could do. Natsu had already run off. She went with Gray and Erza as they started walking to their lockers. After going to their lockers, they went to class. She peered inside and didn't see Natsu. She looked at the clock inside the classroom; the bell was going to ring any second. She sighed and went inside the classroom with Gray and Erza in tow. The bell rang just as they had reached their seats and , their teacher, went to the front of the class to start teaching.

"Ok, we're going to have to work hard today, I have something new I need to teach you and we can't run out of time like we did yesterday. First though, let me take attendance." Their teacher started calling off names.

"Natsu." reached Natsu's name on the list and looked over by where his pink haired student usually sat. "Absent." He continued down the list until he was finished. "Ok, so today we are going to be building off of what we have learned throughout the week. We have learned about matrices and how to apply basic operations to them, but today we are going to learn how to use matrices to solve systems of linear equations." started his lesson.

Lucy sat and listened, but wasn't really paying attention. Their teacher had confused most of the class in the first five minutes, and now she had basically given up. The only thing she could understand was that numbers were popping up from nowhere and you wanted to get 0s and 1s. The main reason she was so distracted though, was because she kept glancing at the door every few seconds. _Where could he have gone, he said he was going to be in class. _Sitting next her, Erza noticed her anxiety.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Erza asked her, though she already had an idea about what was troubling the other girl.

"Where's Natsu? Class is halfway over."

"I'm sure he is fine. Maybe he had to do something for a teacher or something along those lines. Just try to pay attention to the lesson and take your mind off him." The red head advised her friend. Lucy nodded and attempted to pay attention, but it didn't work. She just had this bad feeling that she couldn't shake. The second the bell rang signaling that class ended, she grabbed Erza's and Gray's arms and pulled them down the hall.

"Lucy, where are we going? We are going to be late for class." Erza asked as she noticed that Lucy was pulling them the opposite way from their next class. She was trying for student body president; a tardy would tarnish her perfect attendance and lower of chances of receiving the position.

"Erza, I'll make it up to you by buying you some cake later, but right now we have to find Natsu." The blonde replied.

"He said he would meet us in class, maybe he got held up by something or went home." Gray stated, not really concerned about missing class, but wanting to continue sleeping. He had fallen asleep sometime during their last class and now he was having one of those groggy feelings you get when to get a short nap, but you aren't fully rested afterward.

"For a whole class period? Also if he was going home, I'm pretty sure he would've just told us that instead of saying he'd be back." Lucy bit her lip. "I just have a bad feeling that something happened to him..."

The trio walked around the school looking for their pink-haired companion. Lucy was searching all the out of the way places inside the school. Gray was checking all of the bathrooms. Erza was checking all of the teacher lounges and workrooms by using her reputation she had with the teachers. Lucy had checked everywhere she could by now and was starting to wonder if she had made them all skip class for no reason. Going on one last hunch, she ran back to 's classroom and went through the door that let outside to the back of the school. She looked around and saw a body sprawled out against the wall of the building.

"Natsu!" She called his name as she ran over to him. She kneeled down next to him and pulled his head into her lap. Checking his vitals, she was relieved to hear his breathing, but worried because it was ragged. She put one of her hands on his forehead. He was warm and she could feel the sweat on his skin. She noticed blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and saw a lot of blood in the grass a few feet away. She knew he needed medical attention immediately. She managed to get standing with one of his arms over her shoulders and made her way to the nurse's office as fast as she could while supporting all of his body weight.

The nurse's office was in the center of the building and she was half way there. She saw Gray walking down the hallway and called for his help. His eyes widened when he saw Natsu, but he rushed over and threw Natsu's free arm over his shoulders. With Gray's help, Lucy got Natsu to the nurse's room much faster.

"Oh goodness! Lay him down on the bed." The nurse instructed Lucy and Gray as they entered her office.

The nurse didn't waste any time and immediately started doing her job. She pulled off his hoodie and the shirt he had on underneath and wiped his upper body clean with a damp cloth. Lucy, who was standing behind the nurse, first noticed the bruises. They were mostly completely faded, indicating that he had received them over a week ago, but he had so many. Afterward, she blushed. She had never seen Natsu shirtless or even in a t-shirt for that matter and she had to admit that he was pretty muscular for his age.

After the nurse had finished wiping him down, she told Lucy and Gray that Natsu needed to regain consciousness so she could accurately pinpoint what was wrong with him and decided that in the meanwhile, Lucy should tell her where she had found him, any details of what could of caused him to be like this, if she knew where the bruises came from, etc. Lucy took a deep breath and started responding to the nurse's questions as best as she could. Gray sent Erza a text about where they were.

Natsu came around with a lurching gasp, flinging himself half-upright in the bed and then dropping back against the pillows when the pain in his stomach made him dizzy. He put a hand to his head and groaned, closing his eyes.

"Hey honey." the nurse said as she put a cool cloth on his forehead. "You're finally awake."

He blinked open his eyes. His vision blurry, but sharpening as he looked at the lady above him, whom he recognized as the school nurse.

"I was asleep?" He asked her.

"Not asleep, out cold actually. This young lady found you passed out and brought you in." The nurse gestured to Lucy who was standing behind with Gray and Erza. "Can you explain what happened?"

"Um, I puked and passed out."

"The blood?"

"I've been coughing it up for a few days." He looked down at his lap, realizing he wasn't wearing a shirt. He hadn't received any new bruises recently and his old ones were mainly faded so he didn't feel that self-conscious.

"I'm going to need a bit more than that. It seems like internal bleeding, but how did you get it." The nurse asked gently.

"I was riding my bike a few days ago and I ran into a light post. When I fell the handle bars hit me in the stomach." He replied. The nurse drilled him with her eyes, but she let it go. She started to gently press on various areas in his stomach. He winced.

"Mhm, I'm almost certain its internal bleeding though probably only slight bleeding. If it was more serious, then you would already be dead, but honestly you should have went to a doctor sooner. You probably passed out due to the lack of blood since it was leaving your body faster than it could be replenished. I'd still recommend going to a hospital because the doctors there would probably be more helpful then a school nurse, but I'll call the pharmacy and have them send over medication that should increase the rate at which your red blood cells multiply and repair whatever in bleeding inside you." The nurse explained before walking out to call the pharmacy.

Natsu managed to put on his undershirt before he caught the look Lucy was giving him. Her brows were furrowed and her mouth was set in a thin line of worry. He gave her a sheepish smile.

"Thank you for finding me Luce." He said the nickname without even thinking about it.

_**-SMACK-**_

Natsu's eyes widened as he brought his hand to his stinging cheek.

"Idiot! You knew something was wrong so why didn't you tell us or go get your parents or someone to take you to the hospital? What would have happened of your injuries were worse or if I hadn't of found you, Natsu?" Lucy asked him rather harshly, she herself not even knowing why she was so mad at his actions. Natsu looked away, slightly avoiding her gaze.

"I didn't want to bother you three or anyone with my problems." He replied, choosing not to answer to the second question because it was more rhetorical than anything else.

"That's pretty selfish."

"Huh?"

"You didn't tell anyone cause you didn't want to bother them, but you're really just hurting the people that care about you more. If something would've happened to you, how do you think those same people that you were trying not to bother would feel. I'm sure they would rather have you bother them instead of you falling into an even worse condition. What I'm trying to say is that you're our friend Natsu, and you can tell us when stuff is wrong."

He looked at Erza and Gray. Erza gave him a small smile and Gray gave him a nod. Natsu opened his mouth to give a response, but shut it as the nurse walked in with two bottles of pills.

"Okay, the pharmacy wasn't busy so they were able to send them over right away. Take one red pill and two of the blues one every day and by Monday you should be feeling much better and everything should be completely fine by Wednesday or Thursday. That's only if you follow what I said and take them every day." The nurse told Natsu, putting stern emphasis on the last sentence. "Well, I think you are all set and should be sent home. Is there anyone who could pick you up?"

"No, no. It's fine I can walk home." Natsu said as he waved both of his hands in declining manner and tried to get off the bed. The nurse gently pushed him back down.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. If something were to happen to you on your way home then I would be responsible. I need an adult to come take you home. It's the rules, I'm sorry."

Natsu sighed. He couldn't call his father and there wasn't any other adults that he knew.

"What about Gray?" Lucy interjected. "He has a car and a license. You won't have any problem with it, right Gray?"

"I suppose I can." Gray responded. The nurse gave them a thoughtful look as if she was mulling something over in her head.

"I usually wouldn't do this, but I think that will be better off resting at home, and if is the only one that can take him home, then I'll allow it." The nurse looked at Gray. "However, I can get in a lot of trouble if something goes wrong, so I'm trusting you to take him straight home. No detours along the way. Understood?" Gray nodded. "Good, then you two are free to go. , I expect that you will return to school after taking home?"

"Uh, yeah. Of course." Gray said before practically dragging Natsu out of the room. The nurse shook her head.

"He's not coming back is he?" The nurse asked the two girls who were still present.

"Nope." Lucy told her. The nurse chuckled.

"Figures. Well you two may return to class now." The nurse dismissing them as she went back to her desk chair.

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><p>So? How was this chapter. I wanted to make a lot more happen in this chapter, but a lot of stuff already did happen this chapter and If I did add all the other stuff, then it would be like a 7000-8000 word chapter, so I'll make the stuff I wanted to add in chapter 5. That was a really long sentence, I hope its grammatically correct. Hmm...I don't think I want to say anything else so...<p>

_Comments or Concerns?_


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